Create a flyer for "Formal Labour Market in Urban India"

Based on a rigorous research, this book offers a credible explanation of the way job search and hiring practices work in India’s urban labour market for formal employment, which may be a small one but it is where people seeking jobs aspire to be. It is also an arena where discrimination is a fact of life often camouflaged in the name of merit, resulting in inequality of not only wages but also employment and finally of opportunities.

This is a highly insightful book examining the way in which generations-old inequalities by caste, ethnicity and religion interact with modern labour markets to reshape the opportunity structures in contemporary India. Its primary strength lies in its careful examination of job search strategies and the processes through which employers choose to interview and hire some candidates while excluding others.

Professor Mamgain meticulously combines what we know from large-scale surveys with the findings of his sample survey of the urban labour market. He focuses on issues relating to access and inclusion in the context of interactions between job seekers and job providers. He convincingly shows that the socially marginalised do not get a fair deal, particularly from the private sector. This book should be of interest to labour economists, sociologists and others interested in development issues. 

Employment is at the heart of debates on economics and politics in contemporary India. This engaging book, based on a large sample survey, provides a systematic analysis of job search and hiring practices in the formal sector, characterised by asymmetric information, where unequal opportunities combined with discriminatory practices accentuate inequalities and reinforce exclusion.